Public Records and JSO

Until the past few months, if you went to the Police Memorial Building in downtown Jacksonville to buy an arrest and booking report, the charge was $5.00. It had been that way for years and no one questioned the price until recently. After news stories about the fees for public records, the price drastically down to 15 cents per page. (the average arrest and booking report in Jacksonville is 4 pages) The government can only charge a “reasonable” fee for public records and JSO’s price clearly was not reasonable.

ANYONE can request public records from the government. You should not have to show identification, state your reason for the request, or put your request in written form. If you have any questions about requesting public records from JSO or any other government agency, contact the First Amendment Foundation.